FresH2O's Shrimp Tank

[Autumnsky]

From the looks of the big one, it seems you will have a jewel filled tank in no time!! Lovely!

 

[Fresh2o]

From the looks of the big one, it seems you will have a jewel filled tank in no time!! Lovely!

The big red one is one I got back in May from an LFS. It was almost as clear as an Amano or ghost shrimp at first but eventually took on a deep color. The newbies came in clear to pinkish-red.

Question: How often should they be fed?

I have both Hikari Shrimp Cuisine and Hikari Sinking Wafers. Counting the juvees, there are about 26 shrimp in the tank. I also picked up some small plastic Petri dishes that I want to use as feeding dishes. I just need to get some rigid, clear plastic tubing to act as a "shoot" for getting the food to the dish. Or long tongs for retrieving the dish.

 

[junglefowl]

I only feed them 3 times a week and I used to have over 150 RCS in my 10gal tank!
It keeps them active for cleaning the algea in the planted tank!

 

[Autumnsky]

Mine get fed appx 2-3 days and skip a day, but they eat a little left over food from the Chilis and Sundanios too I suspect. Also have a couple of snails eating up the goodies too.

On the Shrimp Cuisine an adult will eat 1 pellet. Young ones can share one. Generally will break up the bottom feeder pellets into little pieces.

 

[Fresh2o]

3x a week? They were very hungry upon arrival. Even while acclimating I dropped a crumb from a sinking pellet and several shrimp clumped together trying to get at it. Since they ate the last two days I might give them a break today.

More questions:
1. Is it common for them to hide when it's not feeding time? I see a few here and there but several are in thicker planted areas and others are probably behind the the big chunk of moss covered DW.
2. Are Malaysian trumpets snails a good or bad thing in a shrimp tank? I know once you start MTS that you will pretty much always have them.

I currently have these snails that migrated from plants in my outdoor water feature. They have a rams horn shaped shell, however, they are only 5-7mm an they carry their shell "flat" (as if it is tipped over). These snails are everywhere. I also have limpets. I figure all of these mollusks will eat up any left over shrimp food.

 

[Autumnsky]

3x a week? They were very hungry upon arrival. Even while acclimating I dropped a crumb from a sinking pellet and several shrimp clumped together trying to get at it. Since they ate the last two days I might give them a break today.

More questions:
1. Is it common for them to hide when it's not feeding time? I see a few here and there but several are in thicker planted areas and others are probably behind the the big chunk of moss covered DW.
2. Are Malaysian trumpets snails a good or bad thing in a shrimp tank? I know once you start MTS that you will pretty much always have them.

I currently have these snails that migrated from plants in my outdoor water feature. They have a rams horn shaped shell, however, they are only 5-7mm an they carry their shell "flat" (as if it is tipped over). These snails are everywhere. I also have limpets. I figure all of these mollusks will eat up any left over shrimp food.

I would feed them if they seem super hungry.

They will roam all around and search for food and many times, not out front until feeding time.

Still not sure personally about the MTS. Everything says no problem about the MTS though.

I have seen those kind of flat RH. I even tried looking them up. Still don't know their name though.

 

[Fresh2o]

I saw two baby RCS last night. Sorry, no pics. They were so small. About half the length of an uncooked grain of rice. Straw or yellow colored. Did not see any tonight (they are hard to see). There are at least three heavily berried females in the new group and one of them must be starting to release shrimplets.

 

[Autumnsky]

I saw two baby RCS last night. Sorry, no pics. They were so small. About half the length of an uncooked grain of rice. Straw or yellow colored. Did not see any tonight (they are hard to see). There are at least three heavily berried females in the new group and one of them must be starting to release shrimplets.

Yay! They seem to like a tiny amount of First Bites, fry food. If you haven't used it before, a toothpick would be a good tool for measuring it into the tank, pellets are micro dust size and a little goes a long way. The other shrimp like it to.

 

[junglefowl]

Congrats!!!

 

[Jev12]

Thats great congrats....glad to know it is all finally working out for you

 

[Fresh2o]

Congrats!!!

Thats great congrats....glad to know it is all finally working out for you

I hope so. Aside from seeing the pair of shrimplets the other day, I have not seen them again. The tank has plenty of plants with lots of places to hide and I know most of the time the shrimp hang out behind the big moss covered DW. I only get a congregation in the front of the tank during feeding time. I did not feed today; I will tomorrow/Sunday and see if the berried females have or are near the point of releasing the newborns.

 

[Jev12]

The baby's are probably hiding in the moss...and they are so tiny that it will probably be a while until you start seeing them more

 

[Fresh2o]

The baby's are probably hiding in the moss...and they are so tiny that it will probably be a while until you start seeing them more

I found several of the babies clinging to the back wall of the tank. I don't clean the side or back walls so that the limpets and snails have something to munch on (brown film present...diatoms?)
They are straw colored an quite small.
At feeding time, I saw two very berried females. Eggs are yellow and I can see what I believe are black eye spots. Looks like each female is carrying quite a load (bellies are dragging).

 

[Jev12]

I leave the sides and back of my shrimp tank like that as well so they can pick at it

 

[Fresh2o]

Just an update on the shrimp tank. The RCS are breeding and there are quite a few shrimplets at various stages of growth all over the tank. Difficult to count because there are so many places to hide. Even the original 3-4 shrimp I had became berried and delivered. I guess I was missing males from the original group. Here is a pic from a recent feeding. As for me, I am having Thanksgiving leftover today...

 

[junglefowl]

Beautiful pix! Beautiful parents and babies shrimps!!!
Very glad to see this!

 

[Fresh2o]

Beautiful pix! Beautiful parents and babies shrimps!!!
Very glad to see this!

Well they should look familiar! Babies and juveniles everywhere. Finally there looks like there is some life in this tank.

Crossbreeding with the existing stock has already taken place.

Wondering if the addition of Malaysian trumpets snails to this tank would be a good or bad thing. No other residents except for these small ramshorn like snails (beige; very small; carry the shell sideways and not upright).

 

[Scottyhorse]

I don't think MTS would hurt anything.

 

[Fresh2o]

I don't think MTS would hurt anything.

My only concern about adding MTS (aside from potentially overpopulating) is that they might be competing for the biofilm with the baby shrimp. Not sure if that is a valid concern.

One thing I like about this low light tank is the low maintenance, although the DW covered with moss will needed a "haircut" soon. Moss strands are extending a few inches from the surface and are clinging to the filters foam prefilter.

 

[Fresh2o]

Wow! I have not updated this thread in over 4 months. I had to dig around for it.
Anyhow, not much new going on with this tank. I will try to post am FTS later. Shrimp are breeding and growing. Not sure how many I have in there ATM. At least 3 dozen maybe. I may order more so that I can infuse the stock with "new blood". New babies appearing every few weeks. I recently started adding calcium montmorillonite clay to decrease molting related deaths (though it had been a while since I've seen this). Actually, I got it for my planted tank to boost the calcium to help with the decayed tips of the MTS shells.
Here are some of the shrimp feasting on a slice of zucchini: